


Bruises, Arcades and Skate Parks

by crushskz



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M, Soulmate AU, abuse is mentioned like once or twice, happy ending because i cant do sad endings wth, skater boy beomgyu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 12:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19334611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crushskz/pseuds/crushskz
Summary: Soobin had gotten used to occasionally finding random bruises on his arms, small cuts on his legs from when his soulmate would injure himself. So when the number of injuries rapidly increased, he was obviously concerned.Thankfully, his worries were not a reality.





	Bruises, Arcades and Skate Parks

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first au/one shot in a while dsfhkjsh and its based off this idea i posted on my twitter once. anyways enjoy!

He was 6 when the connection was established.

When the first bruise appeared on his knee, his mother simply smiled and told him “your soulmate must have tripped.” Soobin stared at his knee, wondering who this other person was, who gave him this bruise. _Were they okay? Was their mother there to wipe their tears after falling?”_

Over time, Soobin got used to the small bruises and scars that would appear on his body, and sometimes he would smile at the thought that his soulmate would similarly find small bruises and cuts from when Soobin would accidentally injure himself too.

He was 12 when the bruises and scars started getting worse.

He wasn’t sure exactly when they got worse, but by his 13th birthday the number of bruises and scars that weren’t his own littering his body had grown substantially. His parents shared concerned glances when their son would enter the living room in the morning covered in the black and purple marks.

But their worry could not match Soobins worry. He couldn’t stand to look at his own body, hating the look of the bruises that covered his legs and arms. He hated thinking that his soulmate was in pain. The worst was when a new bruise appeared on his stomach. Although the soulmate connection did not include the pains of the injuries, Soobin swore he felt a pain in his side every time he moved.

Gradually, the number of bruises diminished. Although they never returned to the number they had been before (for Soobin still woke up every morning with a new bruise or cut), they were much less than they had been at first. Soobins worry faded a little, although he couldn’t help the way his heart would stop at the sight of a new bruise.

Nobody in his family ever voiced these concerns out loud, but everyone shared the same thoughts; _was Soobins soulmate being bullied? Abused?_

Soobin wouldn’t find out the answer to that question for a few more years.

At 16 he met Yeonjun, a bright boy with a cheerful smile and an overly intense love for Soobins stretchy skin (every time they met, the boy would teasingly tug at his cheek and laugh at Soobins whines and complaints). The two seemed to hit it off immediately. Yeonjuns cheerful personality brought out the livelier part of Soobin, and Soobin seemed to be the only person on the planet able to calm Yeonjun down enough to do any work at school. They were soon joined by Huening Kai, who although younger than them, seemed to fit in better with them than his own classmates. The three quickly became inseparable, and would often have sleepovers at each other's houses every weekend.

It was during one of these sleepovers, a few days after Soobin had turned 18, that Kai finally asked Soobin about the bruises.

“Hyung, why do you have so many bruises on your legs? Is your soulmate alright?” Soobin froze, gaze slowly moving from the book he had been reading to the marks on his legs.

“I…. I don’t know…” his voice trailed off, his fingers brushing over bruises lightly. Kai and Yeonjun exchanged worried looks, Yeonjun then turning to place a comforting hand on Soobins knee.

“We’ll find them soon Soobin, and we’ll make sure they’re okay and safe.” The two continued to shower their friend in comforting words and soft hugs, before Kai brightly offered they go down to the arcade. And so they all left Yeonjuns house and made their way to the nearest arcade, where they immediately launched themselves at the Just Dance machine.

“I’m going against Kai first! Yeonjuns too good at this game, it's only fair,” Soobin teased, sticking his tongue out at the older when he lightly smacked his arm. After a few rounds (which of course Yeonjun won every time), they stopped and moved on to some other machines.

The oldest and youngest were eager to try the motorbike racing games, but Soobin made his way over to the shooting games, scanning for a solo game. His gaze landed on a solo zombie shooter, and he quickly made his way over, fishing a single coin from his pocket and dropping it into the machine. He picked up the small plastic pistol and aimed it at the screen, waiting for the game to start.

3 minutes and 10 waves of zombies later, a large red “Game Over” covered the screen. Soobin groaned, dropping the pistol back into the holder and stepping back. He spun around, the start of Yeonjuns name on the tip of his tongue, and walked right into the person standing behind him. He gasped and stumbled back, immediately spilling a rush of apologies at the younger boy.

“It’s alright,” He giggled, and Soobin tried to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat at the sound. “I should be the one apologising, I was standing way too close.”

The boy continued speaking, but by this point Soobins brain had turned to static. _Did...Did I bump into an angel?_ This boy was too beautiful to be real. His brown hair looked so soft, Soobin wondered for a second what shampoo he used because fuck, hair shouldn’t look _that_ soft and pretty. And his eyes… his eyes were sparkling so bright they seemed to hold the whole galaxy in them. And he had the prettiest smile Soobin had ever seen. Soft, gentle… Soobin was falling deeper into his gay panic at the sight of the boy before him.

And that was when he realised the boy was looking directly at him, as if waiting for a response. _Fuck, he must have asked something. But what? Fuck brain think of something!_

“Are you an angel?"

He had never wanted the earth to swallow him whole more than in that moment.

The boy laughed, shaking his head lightly before staring up at Soobin with those wide, sparkling eyes. “Well, most people call me Beomgyu, but I wouldn’t mind you calling me angel. And I was asking if you wanted me to show you how to beat that game you were just playing, I’m pretty good at it if I say so myself.”

 _Beomgyu.. Pretty_ Soobin was struggling to hide the blush now growing on his cheeks, as he quickly shook his head.

“Ah, no.. I need to go find my friends now, we should leave soon. Uhm… It was nice meeting you Beomgyu! Bye!” He rushed away before the other could respond, immediately hiding behind the nearest machines to calm his racing heart.

  
“Hey! Wait! I never got your name!” He heard the younger call, but Soobin almost ran to the other side of the arcade in his haste to get away. He found his friends by the Just Dance machine, apparently having a rematch as Kai believed he “could totally beat Yeonjun with _this_ song. The two turned to face the taller boy, a look of confusion on both their faces.

“You good hyung?” Instead of replying, Soobin grabbed both of them by the arm and started dragging them towards the entrance, ignoring their complaints. Once a safe distance from the arcade, he finally let them go and turned to face his disgruntled friends.

“Can you explain why you dragged us out of the arcade so suddenly and so aggressively?” Yeonjun rubbed at his arm as he spoke, and Soobin shot him an apologetic look.

“Well I… you see…” He wiped a hand over his face and sighed. “I made a complete fool of myself in front of a boy and I had to leave.”

“Oooooh a boy? What did you do?”

“I… I was too busy staring at him to hear his question and then instead of asking him to repeat himself… I asked if he was an angel…” He flinched as Yeonjun and Kai burst out laughing, and simply stood there staring at the ground, waiting for his friends to calm down.

After a few minutes they finally calmed down enough to continue, and Yeonjun spoke, wiping a tear from his eye and trying to control his giggles as he did.

“You’re an idiot Soobinnie, a fool.” Soobin glared at him then whined, burying his face in his hands. Kai chuckled and patted his shoulder, sharing an amused look with Yeonjun.

“He was just… so pretty…” He murmured into his hands, peeking between his fingers at Yeonjun. The latter grinned at him and continued laughing, but Kai’s laughter slowly faded out to silence as a realisation hit him.

“Hyung…” The older boys turned to him, Yeonjuns laughter silenced immediately.

“Is he your soulmate?”

_Fuck._

“I… I don’t know.”

 

[A few days later]

 

“Soobinnie! Come with us to the skate park please! Hyuka really wants to try my s-board and it’ll be fun if you join us too.” Soobin moved the phone away from his ear as his older friend practically yelled down the speaker to him. Once he had gone silent, he moved the phone back to his ear and sighed.

“Hyung I don’t know….”

“Oh come on, you’ve been cooped up in your room for weeks just reading and sleeping. Join us, pleeeeaaaase.” He could almost hear the boys pout through the phone. With another sigh, Soobin agreed, and Yeonjun cheered before informing him to meet them at the entrance to the park in 10 minutes. Soobin pushed himself up off the couch and made his way over to the front door, calling a quick “I’m going out with my friends!” To his mum before shutting the door behind him.

The walk to the park was short, much too short for Soobins liking. He was at the park entrance in no time, and he groaned when he saw his two friends waiting for him. They waved eagerly, jogging over to greet him.

“Hyung! It’s been so long, how’ve you been?” Kai gave Soobin a quick hug, and the older shrugged, giving a mediocre response that the shorter boy seemed to accept without much complaint. The three made their way towards the skate park, where Soobin knew he would spend at least 2 hours sitting on a bench watching his friends ride Yeonjuns s-board (or well, try to in Kai’s case).

Upon reaching the skate park, Soobin found his assumptions to be correct, as his two closest friends abandoned him immediately. He dropped on the nearest bench and rolled his eyes, watching as Yeonjun helped Kai onto the s-board, the younger already yelping and squealing with only one foot on the board. This continued for about an hour; Yeonjun and Kai taking it in turns to ride the s-board around the skate park, and Soobin watching them from his bench with a bored expression on his face, only laughing when one of them would fall off the board.

At one point, another boy joined Kai and Yeonjun. Kai seemed to recognise him immediately, calling out a cheerful “Taehyun!” and launching himself at the shorter boy. Soobin walked over to meet him, finding out he was Kai’s classmate and friend in school (since Soobin and Yeonjun had left, Kai was finally forced to make friends his own age in his class). Taehyun was nice and much calmer than Soobins friends, and also looked at Kai so fondly Soobin was immediately certain he held stronger feelings for the boy than “just friends” (and who knows, maybe they’re soulmates, or so Soobin hoped).

“My friend Beomgyu’ll be joining us soon too, that is if we can join you guys?” Taehyun asked as he tilted his head slightly, to which Kai immediately agreed and tugged Taehyun towards the s-board.

“Look Hyunnie! Yeonjun-hyung taught me how to ride his s-board!” Soobin watched them leave with Yeonjun trailing after them, and then returned to his bench.

 _It can’t be the same Beomgyu… nah_ Soobin shook his head and lost himself in thoughts of bright eyes and soft smiles, when a voice from behind him startled him.

“Hey angel boy, fancy seeing you here.”

Soobin had never spun around so fast, eyes widening as he stared at Beomgyu in shock. The brown haired boy had a skateboard clasped firmly in his hands. He smiled down at Soobin softly, and then stepped around the bench to sit beside him. Soobins eyes followed the boy as he walked, mouth open but no words seemed to come out.

“You know, I never caught your name last time. You left so quickly…” Beomgyu trailed off.

“Soobin! Uhm… my names Soobin.” He reached to rub at the back of his neck nervously, an awkward smile growing on his face. “And uh.. Yeah.. sorry about that… lost track of time and I needed to find my friends to go home…”

“Soobin…. Wait are you older than me? I should call you hyung then! And no worries.”

  
“Oh I’m 18...”  
  
“So hyung it is!” Beomgyu grinned at Soobin, and Soobin swore his heart almost stopped. _But he’s not your soulmate Soobin. He’s too pretty to be your soulmate._ And Soobin silently hoped Beomgyu wasn’t his soulmate, because it hurt too much thinking that anyone could hurt such an innocent, sweet boy.

“So, what brings you here hyung?” Beomgyu shifted his body on the bench so he was facing Soobin, who had his hands clasped nervously in his lap.

“Oh uhm, my friends wanted to come here and they dragged me along… Though I don’t skate so I’m just sitting here.” He nodded in Yeonjun and Kai’s direction, and Beomgyu turned to glance at them before returning his attention to Soobin.

  
“You don’t skate? Like don’t want to or can’t?”  
“Can’t….” Soobin chuckled awkwardly. “But I guess I’ll ask Yeonjun to teach me one day.”

“Or I could teach you! O-only if you want that is,” Beomgyu blushed lightly, but the smile never left his face.

“O-oh… that would be nice…” Soobin lifted his gaze from his lap to look up at Beomgyu, but froze when his eyes landed on a familiar mark on the youngers leg. The black and purple bruise looked fairly fresh, and reminded Soobin of the same mark he had found this morning on his own leg… in the exact same spot.

 _No no no no no_ Soobins gaze passed over Beomgyus arms and legs, recognising the many bruises and cuts that were hidden under his sleeves and jeans. _Is… Is he really my soulmate… fuck…._

_Is he okay?_

“Hyung? Soobin-hyung! You really zone out a lot huh,” Beomgyu giggled and waved his hand in front of Soobins face. Soobin blinked a few times and met Beomgyus eyes, and again he was reminded of how beautiful they were, of how they held the whole galaxy in them.

_Who in the world would hurt such a beautiful boy?_

“What’s wrong?” Beomgyus smile dropped, a look of worry replacing it. Soobin brushed away the question with a small “I’m fine, don’t worry”, avoiding looking at Beomgyu from fear of seeing the marks on his skin.

“Hey Beomgyu? Uhm…” He trailed off for a second, words failing him as he tried to ask the question that had been plaguing him since he was 11 years old.

“Is… Is everything alright at home? At school?”

“Huh? Yeah? What do you mean?” Soobin winced at the confusion in Beomgyus voice, and kept his gaze focused on the ground before him.

“You’re not, uhm, getting bullied or anything? Nobody’s hurting you?”

“No?! I’m perfectly fine? Where’s this coming from Soobin-hyung?” Soobin let out a small relieved sigh, but then looked up at Beomgyu, a look of confusion washing over his own face.

  
“Your bruises…?” He awkwardly pointed at the youngers arms, and jumped when the latter proceeded to burst into a fit of giggles.

“Oh these? I practice skateboarding every day and well I can’t avoid getting some bumps and bruises when I fall off.” Soobin grinned at Beomgyu then, and had to physically refrain from enveloping him in a massive hug. Beomgyus giggles calmed down then, and he tilted his head slightly.

“But hyung, you saw my skateboard and helmet, shouldn’t you have put 2 and 2 together?”

Soobin blinked slowly and then shook his head. “Uhm… have you been skating since you were, let’s say.. 11?” Beomgyu nodded slowly, a strange look in his eye now as his gaze flickered to Soobins arm. _He’s realising it now_ Soobin thought, and he stretched out his arm in front of Beomgyu, nodding slightly. Beomgyu reached out a hesitant hand, slowly pulling the older boys sleeve up to reveal identical marks covering his arm. Now shaking slightly, Beomgyu brushed his fingers over the marks lightly, eyes wide as he stretched his own arm out beside Soobins. The two boys stared at their arms, the many identical bruises and marks which were so familiar to both boys. Soobins heart was beating so fast he was afraid it would stop completely, as he slowly looked up to meet Beomgyus eyes.

And that’s when he saw that the younger was crying.

“I-I’m so sorry hyung… you must have been so worried… all this time.. I’m so sorry…” Soobin shook his head and smiled softly.

“Beomgyu, you were simply doing what you love, please don’t apologise… I’m just glad you’re okay and it’s nothing serious.” He murmured, reaching up to wipe away the tears rolling down Beomgyus cheeks. Beomgyu smiled back, placing his hand over Soobins, and just held it there for a moment. And they sat there, staring into each others eyes, until a loud yell interrupted them.

“Yo Soobin! Beomgyu! Quit flirting and come join us already!” Yeonjun shouted, waving them over. Soobin moved his hand away from Beomgyus cheek and stood to his feet. Beomgyu quickly followed, grabbing his skateboard with one hand and reaching for Soobins hand with the other.

“I think… I’ll take you on a date as an apology later. How does that sound?” Beomgyu asked as they made their way over to their friends, who were all smiling at them. Soobin hummed and turned to look at the shorter boy, a fond smile growing on his face as he gazed into Beomgyus eyes. Those eyes that held the whole galaxy in them.

“That sounds perfect angel”


End file.
